Basta. Red wine or being dead

“I have wept only three times in my life: when they hung Jack Ruccini has, at the birth of my son, and when I dropped the wing of a truffled chicken into Lake Ontario.” With this quote from Al Capone’s Basta begins. Red wine or being dead, and it just points to the balancing act that must cope with the film: Raw gangsters and subtle flavors are the focus of Pepe Danquart’s latest project:

, Oskar (Henry Hübchen) is not only body and soul Koch, but also Recovering money for the Russian mafia in Vienna with the specialty, his opponent in the foot to shoot. That this crude mixture in his life does not really fit together, and he himself notes – for the love of Marie (Corinna Harfouch), which forbids him to prison as a mild-mannered psychologist more shots, want to get Oscar. His boss, the Godfather Constantine (Karlheinz Hackl), granted him one last job: He is to avenge the brutal murder of his daughter – the murderer Leo (Paulus Manker), is to simmer it in the truest sense.

What Constantine not yet aware: Oskar wants to fund his exit with an explosive tell-all book – the content is so secret that not even the publisher’s representative Diana (Nadezhda Brennicke). finds out. However, she meets Oscar Wizard Belmondo and Valentin. She is fascinated by the brutal violence Valentine (Moritz Bleibtreu) and begins a hot affair with the dumb young gangster. An error, as they have to say: she gets so brutal in the mills of fine Viennese underground society. Even Mary, who is not just Oscar’s mistress but also Diana’s best friend, can not escape the turmoil of the Mafia. To put pressure on Oscar, she is held captive and tortured by Leo.

The practice of mixing is now also two police officers and try the maze of food, wine and death to solve, it does not make it any easier Oskar free his beloved from the clutches of Leo. In the kitchen of his restaurant and schussgewaltigen it comes to the final meeting of all parties, if she wants to have survived until then.

The director Pepe Danquart the hustle and bustle, the brutality and the physical impact of food transferred to the gangster milieu – and fails in the attempt, anyway this difficult mix also blended with a portion of macabre humor. Although production has been in the occupation of the trouble and dedicated to ensemble cast, which can be seen. And it is not even on the achievements of the stars that the film almost the whole time the audience is not affected. A major reason for this is the one and all, incredible characters who seem to not really thought over. This starts with Mary, and Oscar, who know little to convince as a couple. That violence is abhorrent, Academic calculated in love with a brutal gangster in the film and that may be in love, everything will be possible, perhaps by pointing out, just accept it just yet. Nevertheless, the whole thing does not work around, always inconsistencies jump into action and figure drawing formally considered. Moritz Bleibtreu is an unnecessary copy of his part of “Knocking on Heaven’s Door”, which was spiced with a healthy dose of violence. Karl Heins Hackl sees with the wig and the beard glued to what it is to appear older than Pate, plenty of silly, while the Vienna poorly synchronized appearing and exaggerated dialect of Belmondo (Roland Duringer), the German ear properly annoying. And the transformation from the gentle Mary, who would like to resolve any conflicts with talks to rachenehmende and almost becoming cannibalistic fury, even in light of the torture did not understand.

Is not only the scenes of torture, but the depiction of violence in the whole movie does not look as Danquart difficulty: “I do not think that this is a problem, because the violence is not really seen. I have defused the very … the actual violence occurs only in the imagination of the viewer, “he announced in an interview that appeared in the press booklet on the film. Unfortunately, this is not entirely correct. The violent scenes will confuse viewers who expect a gangster comedy. A woman lying on the ground is violently attacked with kicks, a writer is being slighted by Valentine that the blood flows in streams – such scenes to punish the film as a gangster comedy lies. Repulsive highlights are the scenes of torture in which Corinna Harfouch handcuffed to the chair to endure severe beatings and cruel must be lowered. Not only when it is drowned with his head in water bucket almost makes you as a viewer does not bother to see in it a meaning. The weary verbal wit in the spoken dialogue is far too slow (about Mary’s perpetual question of whether the threat of violence can not cope with a breathing exercise), there seems to be rather than to disturb the balance between the word “gangster comedy to contribute.

Perhaps it is indeed on the ingredients used the Danquart – in other words the film quotes, which he richly trimmed the film – his inspiration, he seems to be next to which it referred to Snatch – Pigs and Diamonds and from the have brought Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, and Pulp Fiction, but this alone can not save the movie. In any case, Pepe Danquart is with his claim to an “exciting gangster film, which is also comedy, make it a failure.

Related posts

This entry was posted
on Thursday, December 10th, 2009.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.